Identity and Self-Care

In your lifetime you’re probably going to be asked this a few thousand times. Or at least it seems like you are. The problem is, when a question becomes so common it tends to carry less meaning. We answer, “Fine” without thinking, an automatic response much like saying “Hello.” But are you fine? Really? Understanding and accepting who you are, your authentic self, is vital to being satisfied and successful in life. Mark 6:30-31 (KJV) records an interesting conversation. “And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” Jesus, after hearing the good news about the success they were having advancing the Kingdom, had to instruct them to pause! He had to plainly tell them that they needed to sit down and rest… to take a moment for leisure and to eat. If Jesus had to remind the early apostle, surely He is still reminding us of this truth today. Let’s make sure that we know who we are so that we don’t wear ourselves out in an attempt to inquire from others or to persuade others to confirm who we think we are. We can serve, and still be selfless. We can do self-care and not become self-centered. We just need to be reminded that YOU AND I are more than enough – and we can rest in that truth.